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| by Cochaman Peef with additional writing by Bridget Petrella | ||
| BVHE's ‘Grey's Anatomy: Season 3’— Life Lessons in Coping. | ||
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Despite a number of short-term
unwarranted arrests for a virtual plethora of misdemeanors,
which, for some odd reason, remain "classified", Cochaman Peef
has continued to let his beloved hemp play a substantial role in
his ever-waning life. Whether he’s smoking from a hand-blown
glass pipe while studying Eastern religion and Woody Harrelson
philosophy, or just smoking Jamaican sticks and watching Kung-Fu
with David Carradine on DVD [he claims to know Carradine
personally, a fact we've yet to dispute]. |
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For
many television series that actually make it this far the third
season is often a rather perilous one. The challenge for the producers
and writers is how you can build on two years of success balancing
between the elements that made the show a hit and giving the audience
something new. ABC had a double hit of this dilemma in the 2006-2007
season when both of their flagship scripted series, ‘Desperate
Housewives’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ embarked on season three. The creative
teams of both series rose to the occasion very well. One thing both had
going for them is the fact that fundamentally both series are really
soap operas. In the particular case of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ this gave them
the leeway to go a little crazy. In classic medical shows like ‘Ben
Casey’ the patients would have personal problems, the doctor would grunt
a bit, cut them up and both medical and personal problems would be
solved in less than an hour. With the surgical staff at Seattle Grace
hospital there is a bit more drama due to the complex relationships than
any post operative infection could ever pose. The characters here have
moved on from romantic triangles to polygons; some bordering on
multidimensional constructs. While normally surgical residents strive to
improve their skills in the operating room this group appears more
concerned with who is sleeping with whom and positioning themselves for
the next step up in their careers. Ultimately the series is enjoyable;
fun to watch. What draws millions to soap operas is at work here at the
master class level. Even with some far fetched plot lines the quality of
the writing, direction and acting carries this series upward during this
third season. 
Dr.
Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) has always lived in the shadow of her
bigger than life, famous surgeon mother Ellis (Kate Burton). In this
season Meredith and her friends are starting their third and final year
of their surgical internship. While this is normally a stressful time
under the best possible circumstances Meredith is also torn between two
men; Dr. Derek Shepherd (handsome Patrick Dempsey), also known
affectionately as Dr. McDreamy, and another surgeon, Dr. Mark Sloan
(Eric Dane); a.k.a. McSteamy. In this season Sloan would move on from
Meredith and set out after Shepard’s ex-wife, a neo-natal surgeon, Dr.
Addison Montgomery-Shepherd (Kate Walsh). McSteamy also had a brief
affair with the wife of Dr, George O’Malley (T.K. Knight). George is the
perpetual nice guy who although he is married to Dr. Callie Torres (Sara
Ramirez), chief resident in Orthopedics, he still carries a perpetual
flame for his former roommate and co-worker Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens
(Katherine Heigl). Izzie just lost her fiancée, Denny Duquette (Jeffrey
Dean Morgan), who died after a heart transplant. Izzie loses her place
in the surgical rotation after it is discovered that she fabricated some
test results to make sure Denny got the heart. He leaves her $8.7
million dollars but Izzie takes months before she was able to cash the
check. Also in this tangle web of relationships is another friend of
Meredith, Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) who is fiercely competitive and
living with surgical resident Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington).
Both Shepard and Burke are rivals for the position of Chief of Surgery
currently held by Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.). He is having
trouble with his health and is due to step down. He also had an affair
with Meredith’s mom for many years. Overseeing this madhouse is the head
resident and teacher to the interns, Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra
Wilson). She may he short in stature but she certainly lives up to her
nickname of the Nazi. This description only scratches the surface of the
personal lives of the staff of Seattle Grace Hospital. 
One
of the pervading themes in this third season is coping. Each of the
main characters, and there are a lot of them, have to cope with the
extreme amount of stress in their lives. True to soap opera construction
the methods used is, shall we say, some what unorthodox. Izzie takes to
dealing with the grief over losing Denny by baking. She doesn’t just
make a few cakes, she fills the home she shares with Meredith with
enough baked goods to fill a store. While she is doing this the check
for millions of dollars lies un-cashed nearby. Eventually her friends
gather around and get her to reclaim her position in the hospital. For
Cristina life is more complex than usual. She is the queen of the type
‘A’ personalities always having to be in control and the best around.
Now she has to contend with problems in her personal life. Burke
suffered a serious injury that has left his hand with a tremor, not a
good thing for a surgeon. There personal relationship is strained but
eventually they get engaged. George gets a visit from his overbearing
family who look at him as the least manly of the clan. He also discovers
that his wife is rich. They have been scraping by but she is heir to a
fortune. Meredith is trying to make a relationship work with Shepard but
he sis still in love with his ex-wife. Meredith also has to deal with
her mother’s degrading mental condition due to Alzheimer's disease and
her eventual death due to heart failure. 
If
there is one thing that ABC and Buena Vista/Disney knows, it is how
to keep the fans happy with a DVD season set release. This season box
set is billed as ‘Grey's Anatomy: Season Three— Seriously Extended’ and
consistent with the previous sets lives up to the name. First of all the
anamorphic video is near reference quality. The colors pop off the
screen. The contrast is perfect. The Dolby 5.1 audio is clear and gives
a workout to all the speakers. The channel separation is better than
average. What really shine here are the extras. Selected episodes have
audio commentaries where the cast and crew muse over the production of
the season. There are clips and highlights of the cast’s favorite
episodes. It is interesting to see what those most involved in the
series feel is the best the season offered. There are some extended
scenes to add to the enjoyment. There are two featurettes. The first is
a tour of the sets with Patrick Dempsey and the second is concerned with
the recurring character, Jane Doe, who was in need of massive facial
reconstruction. This is fun and enjoyable and worth adding to your
collection. UB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413573/